Method of attaching uppers to soles in the manufacture of shoes



June 16, 1925 I A. BATES METHOD OF ATTACHING UPPE RS TO SOLES IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHOES Patented June it 1925.

issues Q UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR BATES, OF LEICESTER, ENGLAND ASSIG-NOR TO UNTTEZD SHOE MACHIEERY SEY, A CORPOBATION OF NEV JERSEY.

METHOD OF ATTACHING UPPERS TO IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHOES.

Original application filed October 25, 1917, Serial No. 198,406. Divided. and this application filed January To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR Burns, a subject of the King of England, residing at Leicester, Leicestershire, England, have invented certain Improvements in Methods of Attaching Uppers to Soles in the Mannfacture of Shoes, of which the following description, in connectioii. with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to an improved method of attaching uppers to soles in the manufacture of shoes.

The invention has reference more particularly to the attachment of the upper to the sole by metallic fastenings inserted at intervals through the upper and into the sole.

In the use of metallic fastening machines to attach uppers to soles, the shoe with a last therein is presented in operative relation to the fastening inserting mechanism with the upper in engagement with a part of the fastening inserting mechanism adja cent to the passage through which the fasteningsare driven. It has been found in the operation of such machines that the upper is likely to be so tightly stretched between the successive fastenings as to cause a gradual accumulation of material of the upper in advance of the inserted fastenings which must be disposed of in a large fold or pucker. There is a special tendency to the formation of these undesirable folds or puckers in the upper at the curved parts of the sole edge such as the toe.

An object of the present invention is to devise an improved method by which an upper can be attached to its sole without any objectionable folds or plaits being formed in the upper at the curved portions of the shoe or elsewhere. By the practice of this invention the excess of upper material is taken up gradually between successive fastenings by relative movement of the sole and upper following the insertion of a fastening and prior to the insertion of the next succeeding fastening. Preferably this relative movement is such as to cause a part of the fullness of material of the upper to pass back toward the inserted fastening or fastenings.

In. another aspect of the invention the Serial No. 5 31,6323.

relative movement of the sole and upper to cause part of the fullness of material to be taken up between successively inserted fastenings is effected by fulcruming movement of the shoe, the fulcrum point being preferably remote from the point of insertion of the fastenings, for example at the opposite side of the shoe.

The method will be hereinafter described in its application to the attachment of uppers to grooved wooden soles in the manufacture of clog shoes and as being carried out with the aid of mechanism embodied in a staple fastening machine such as is disclosed in the patent to Borden, No. 1,016,930, granted February 13, 1912. the invention is not, however, to be limited thereby.

These and other aspects of the invention will appear more fully as the description proceeds.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of illustrative apparatus for use in the practice of the present invention and shows a clog shoe presented to the machine in position to have its upper secured to its sole, and

Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation of Fig. 1.

The scope of A throat piece 2 is supported from the head of the fastening inserting machine which may be of the kind fully illustrated and described in the before-mentioned patent. The passage of the throat piece which receives the fastening for attaching the upper to the sole is indicated at 4: (Fig. 2) and the said throat piece has its lower end beveled on either side as indicated at 6 and 8. The throat piece is reduced in width at its delivery end and carries the bar 10 provided with grooves 12 in each end thereof in which are mounted plates 14 and 16 detachably secured to the bar by cap screws 18 and 20 respectively. The plates 1 and l6'have their lower ends arranged in alins ment with the passage 4; of the throat piece and with each other-and are formed ad iacent to themouth of the throat piece 2 at the right of the throat piece being inclined somewhat to the left, the teeth of both plates being inclined in a direction toward the mouth of the throat piece 2. It will be noted by reference to Fig. 2 of the drawings that the reduction in width of the throat piece 2, at its loweror delivery end, permits the inner edges of plates 14 and 16 partially to underlie the passage 4 at their lower ends, the inner edges of the plates 14 and 16 thereby forming extensions of the walls of the passage 4 and operating to guide the fastenings below said passage.

On the frame 30 of the stapling machine is mounted a fixed bracket 32. The bracket 32 has its end outturned away from the machine at 34 and has pivoted thereto a bell-crank member 36 by a fulcrum stud 38. The short arm 40 of the bell-crank lever has rotatably mounted therein a threaded rod 42 which is received by a cylindrical nut 44 rotatably mounted in the upper end of the bracket 34. The other end of rod 42 is provided with a milled head 46.

The longer arm 48 of the bell-crank member 36 is formed with a work supporting surface upon which is secured by screws 50 a sheet 52 of leather or other material of a nature adapted to prevent slipping of the edge of a sole supported thereon relatively thereto under the force exerted by the fastening inserting mechanism. The rod 42 is adapted to be manipulated by the operator to adjust the position of the work supporting arm 48 of the bell-crank lever about the pivot 38, the upper surface of said work supporting arm, as shown in the drawing, being adjusted to an angle of about 30 degrees to the vertical.

Although I have described above and have illustrated in the drawing a convenient construction of work support for the purposes of the invention, it is to be understood that the particular construction of work support illustrated forms no part of the present invention, the said support being claimed in my application originally filed October 4, 1917, Serial No. 432,304, and that the work support may be dispensed with and the method of this invention carried out with the shoe supported only by the hands of the operator.

In carrying out the method of this application, the operator takes an upper with a last in it and already connected at a few points to the sole edge and thrusts the work upwardly against the throat piece so that the teeth of the pla'te'14 or 16, depending upon which side of the shoe is being operated upon, will engage the upper near its margin and push the margin of the upper into the groove of the sole. Assuming, as indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawing, that the left side of the shoe looking toward the toe is being operated upon, a fastening is first inserted through the upper at a point near the center of the toe portion of the sole, preferably at a distance therefrom equal to one-half of the ditsance between successive fastenings. Following the insertion of the first fastening, indicated at A in Fig. 2, the sole and upper are again presented to the throat piece in a position such that the teeth 22 of the plate 14 will engage the margin of the upper and force the same down into the groove of the sole, the upper and sole ieing engaged by the teeth 22 at a point such that the passage 4 of the throat piece aliues with a point on the sole somewhat fiu'ther from the fastening previously inserted than the point at which the next succeeding fastening is to be inserted.

The sole is then moved to the left to bring the point on the sole at which the next succeeding fastening is to be inserted into alinement with the passage 4 of the throat piece 2, the points of the teeth 22 digging into the upper and holding it stationary during the movement of the sole. The fastening indicated at B in Fig. 2 of the drawing is then driven into place, the rela tive movement of the sole and upper previously to the insertion of the fastening having caused a little of the fullness of the upper to be taken up between the fastenings A and B. The fastening B having been inserted, the sole and upper are again presented into operative relation to the throat piece, the teeth 22 of the plate 14 again engaging the upper in the groove of the sole. The point at which the next succeeding fastening is to be inserted is indicated at C in Fig. 2 of the drawings and following the nient of the upper by the teeth 22, the shoe is again moved to the left whereby the point C of the sole is moved into alinement with the passage 4 of the throat piece, and the upper being held against movement by the teeth 22, a little of the fullness thereof passed back toward the fastening B. The third fastening is then inserted. By suecessively repeating these operations the operator can succeed in reaching the side of the toe without finding that he has an excess of material to dispose of or has disposed of the material by one or more unsightly puckers or plaits.

The operator having completed the insertion of the fastenings on the left side of the shoe, turns the shoe backward and presents the toe of the shoe into operative relation with the throat piece at a point on the right side of the center of the toe. In the operation of inserting fastenings on the right side of the shoe the upper and sole will be presented to the throat piece in a position such that the margin of the upper will be engaged by the teeth 24 of the plate 1.6. In starting the operation on the second side of the shoe the sole will be so positioned relatively to the passage 40f the throat piece that the passage 4 will be in alinement with a point on the sole more remote from the fastening A than the point at which the fastening is to be inserted. Following the engagement of the upper-by the teeth 24 of the plate 16, the shoe will be moved to the right far enough to bring the point of the sole at which the fastening is: to be inserted into alinement with the throat piece 4, thus causing a little of the fullness of the material of the upper to be passed back toward the fastening A. By successive operations of thekind above described, the attachment of the upper to the sole on the right side of the shoe is completed. When the work supporting attachment previously described is used the operator reststhe edge of the tread face of the sole on the opposite side of the sole from that in which the fastenings are being inserted upon the covered flattened surface of the arm 48 of the bell-crank member 86, which is previously adjusted to a convenient angle by rotationrof the screw-threaded rod 42, using the arm 48 of the bell-crank member as an abutment to resist the thrust of the driver of the machine and as a fulcrum in forcing the work against the throat piece and in turning the W01: relatively to the throat piece.

When the work supporting attachment is used the shoe is not moved bodily following engagement of the upper with the throat piece, the point of the sole at which the fastening is to be inserted being brought into alinement with the passage 4 of the throat piece by tipping movement of the sole on the supporting arm 48. The length of the flattened and covered portion of the arm 48 of the bell-crank member36 is such that no matter at what part of the contour of the sole the fastenings arebeing inserted, a part of the tread face edge of the opposite side of the sole may be rested upon the covered portion of the arm to enable the thrust of the driver to be taken up by said arm and to permit of the use of the arm as a fulcrum for the sole, in the manner described.

It will be understood that the surface 52 of the face of the part 48 which carries it, is relatively narrow so as to give full free dom to the operator in imparting tipping movements to the work, and that the surface 52 is of a nature to maintain the edge of the sole against movement under the action of the fastening inserting devices.

It will be further understood that working of the material into position for fastening may be accomplished without movement of the sole in the direction of the groove formed therein, the sole being moved in a direction transversely of the groove, the teeth of the plate engaged by the member operating to engage the upper initially above the groove and to drag or push the upper toward and into the groove.

This application is a division of my application Serial No. 198,406, filed October 25, 1917, upon which United States Letters Patent No. 1,426,343 were granted August 22, 1922.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The method of attaching uppers to soles in the manufacture of shoes which consists in inserting a fastening through the margin of an upper into the edge face of a sole, effecting a relative movement in the line of the fastenings between the sole and the portion of the upper adjacent to the inserted fastening on the side of said fastening where the next fastening is to be inserted in such manner as to cause that fastening and said portion of the upper to approach each other to take up a part of the fulliness of the upper, and then inserting a second fastening.

2. The method of attaching uppers to soles in the manufacture of. shoes which consists in inserting fastenings successively at intervals for attaching an upper to a sole, and in effecting movement of the shoe in the direction of the line of fastenings between the soleand the upper between successive fastening inserting operations in such manner as to cause the fastening last inserted and the adjacent portion of the upper to approach each other togtake up a part of the fullness of the upper bet-ween any two adjacent fastenings.

The method of attaching uppers to grooved soles in the manufacture of shoes which consists in successively presentinga shoe with spaced points of its upper and sole in operative relation to an upper engaging member, moving the shoe relatively to the member in the direction of the sole edge with the upper in engagement with the member to work the margin of the upper into position in said groove, and inserting a fastening therein.

4. The method of attaching uppers to grooved soles in the manufacture of shoes which consists in successively presenting a shoe with spaced points of its upper and sole in operative relation to an upper engaging member, initially engaging the upper with said member at one side of the groove of the sole, moving the shoe with the upper in engagement with said member to cause said member to push the upper down into the groove of the sole, and inserting a fastening therein.

5. The method of attaching uppers to soles in the manufacture of shoes which consists in successively inserting fastenings at intervalsfor attaching the upper to the sole, and in effecting movement of the sole in the direction of the line of fastenings relatively to the upper between the successive fastening inserting operations in such manner as to cause the fastening last inserted and the adjacent portion of the upper to approach each other to take up a part of the fullness of material of the upper between any two successive fastenings.

6. The method of attaching uppers to soles in the manufacture of shoes which consists in presenting a shoe with its upper and sole in operative relation with an upper engaging member, inserting a fastening therein, again presenting the shoe in operative relation to the member, moving the shoe in the direction of the line of fastenings with the upper maintained in engagement with the member in such manner as to cause the fastening inserted therein to approach the member, and

' then inserting a second fastening so as to take up a part of the fullness of material of the upper between the fastenings.

7. The method of attaching uppers to soles in the manufacture of shoes which consists in successively presenting the shoe in operative relation to a member through which the fastenings are driven, and moving the shoe in the direction of the line of fastenings with the upper maintained in en gagement with the member in such manner as-to cause the fastening last inserted therein to approach said member prior to the insertion of each fastening to take up a little of the fullness of material of the upper between any two successive fastenings.

8. The method of attaching uppers to soles in the manufacture of shoes which consists in successively presenting the shoe in operative relation to a member through which the fastenings are driven, and imparting a fulcruming movement to the shoe with the upper maintained'in engagement with the member in such manner as to cause the fastening ast inserted therein to approach said member prior to the insertion of each fastening to take up a part of the fullness of material of the upper between any two successive fastenings.

9. The method of attaching uppers to soles in the manufacture of shoes which consists in successively inserting fastenings at intervals for attaching an upper to its sole, and taking up a part of the fullness of the material of the upper between successively inserted fastenings by a fulcriuning movement of the sole to prevent accumulation of the material of the upper in advance of the inserted fastenings.

10. The method of attaching uppers to soles in the manufacture of shoes which consists in successively inserting fastenings at intervals for attaching an upper to its sole, successively presenting the shoe in operative relation to an upper engaging member, and taking up a part of the fullness of the ma terial of the upper by maintaining the upper in engagement with the upper engaging member and simultaneously imparting a fulcruming movement to the shoe between successive fastening inserting operations to cause relative movement of the upper and sole to prevent accumulation of the material of the upper in advance of the inserted fastenings.

11. The method of attaching uppers to soles in the manufacture of shoes which consists in inserting successive fastenings through the upper and into the edge face of a sole, and effecting relative movement of the upper and sole between insertions of fastenings to cause the upper to be fulled between fastenings.

12. The method of attaching uppers to soles in the manufacture of shoes which consists in inserting a fastening to hold a portion of an upper to a sole, engaging the outer surface of the upper adjacent to the inserted fastening and moving the upper relatively to the sole toward said fastening to full the upper, inserting a second fastening while the upper is so held, and repeating the operation upon successive portions of the upper about the periphery of the shoe.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

ARTHUR BATES, 

